


Master Promise

by WordMusician



Series: Master Pieces [2]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Adult Content, Bonding, F/M, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Team TARDIS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-06-15 18:39:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 17,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15419160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WordMusician/pseuds/WordMusician
Summary: Sequel to Master Plan.  The Master has been seduced by the power within Rose Tyler.  He has to have it.  He has to have her.  Team TARDIS is reunited by can they stop him?  Or will the Master fly too close to the flame?





	1. Prelude

**Author's Note:**

> This was a long time coming. I wasn't going to write it but my muse would not let it go. I've had the idea and bits and pieces floating around for what feels like forever.

He lay on his back staring up at the ceiling but he didn’t really see it. Instead his vision was consumed with her: her creamy skin, her golden hair, her full lips.

He could still taste her.

He held his hand to his face and inhaled deeply. Her scent clung faintly to his fingers and they tingled with the memory sensation of her warm flesh. Rose Tyler had made a lasting impression.

After all these centuries it had finally happened. There was a fissure in his narcissistic armour. The Master smiled at his own folly and tucked his hands behind his head. If there was anything, anything at all which he loved more than his own self, it was power. Rose Tyler had power. She had a lot of it.

He had to have it. He had to have her.  


	2. Peace Treaty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose and the Doctor are reunited with Jack and the Doctor offers an apology.

Rose was first out the door since it was decided she would make the best peace offering. Not that the Doctor was offering up Rose Tyler, no, no, no, but if Jack could see straight away that she was rescued and safe he might be in a better mood. Marginally better and that was better than nothing.

  
Captain Jack Harkness stood on the plaza above Torchwood Cardiff, scowling at the materializing blue box. His “Doctor detector” had alerted him minutes before and this time he was quite ready for a less than friendly reunion. His first encounter with this new face of the Doctor had been horrific. He had a lot of hard questions to ask the very, very rude time lord and he was determined to get satisfaction. Betrayal was high up on the list of crimes he held against this elusive alien. Nothing had better have happened to Rose either or the world would soon learn just how many regenerations one time lord could possibly have.

  
Her smiling face was the most welcome sight his cynical gaze could have beheld. “Rosie!” he called out with relief and joy. His arms unfolded and spread wide to receive his favourite blonde in all the universes.

  
“Jack!” she sang out. She ran to him and flung her arms around his neck. He lifted her off her feet and swung her around, laughing. It was a joyous reunion of old friends.

  
“Welcome to Cardiff! It’s about time you visited young lady.”

  
“I’ve missed you! I never thought I’d see you again,” she gasped as he set her back down. She searched his face to gauge just how angry he still might be at the Doctor. Surely seeing her all hale and hearty could mollify him somewhat.

  
Jack watched the TARDIS over her shoulder and frowned at the time lord as he appeared. “At least he managed to rescue you.” Jack had learned about time lord regeneration from ancient sources. Even though there had never been a proper introduction (being throttled hardly counted), he knew this was the same Doctor who he’d once counted a trusted friend, a man he had proudly died for. New face, perhaps new man now; Jack’s guard was firmly in place.

  
Rose watched Jack watch the Doctor. The hardness and the suspicion she read in his face hurt her heart. She couldn’t stand to have them at odds. “Yes, Jack, he did save me and it really was terrible. The Master is the worst person I have ever met – even worse than the Daleks. The Doctor had very good reasons for being so upset, but he does feel badly about how he treated you. He wants to apologize if you will let him.”

  
Having a time lord apologize to you must count for something. Jack nodded tightly. He knew it was important to Rose that they make up and if he were honest, it was important to him too. He knew how things stood between Rose and the Doctor – better than they did he suspected, or at least he used to, back when they were Team TARDIS. “So you know then? What he did and that I can’t stay dead?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry, Jack.”

  
Jack didn’t know what Rose had to apologize for, so he dismissed that to address the bigger question. “What happened to me, Doc?” he called to the time lord who was lurking inside the TARDIS doorway.

  
His hesitancy to join them was obvious but only Rose knew of the physical discomfort the Doctor encountered simply being around Jack. She stepped out of Jack’s embrace and extended her hand toward the Doctor. _Better with a hand to hold_ , she reasoned. Here were the two most important men in her life now and she desperately wanted them to make amends.

  
The Doctor moved quickly to her side and grasped her hand with a comfortable eagerness. “There’s a lot to tell you, Jack, but first I want to say I’m sorry. I’m truly very, very sorry, but...well, it was Rose.” He shrugged helplessly. It will always be Rose and I do hope you can accept that.

  
Jack studied this new face. Very pretty really in a classical sense; certainly would catch his eye in a pub. The earnest dark eyes no longer spit fire but seemed to hold sadness that Jack accepted as genuine. Who was he to quibble when it was Rose Tyler who had been in danger?

  
“I could have been a help, you know,” Jack reminded him. Once he’d revived he’d worried for the two of them and whatever desperate adventure they were on.

  
“Oh you were! I couldn’t have followed their trail without the time signature off your vortex manipulator.” He pulled it from his pocket. “Thanks for that. Although, I distinctly remember telling you to destroy it...”

Rose snatched the offending bit of future tech and handed it to Jack. “Well, it’s a good thing he didn’t ‘cause that thing saved my life, twice.”

  
Jack quickly stuffed it into his great coat pocket, grateful for its return. “Sounds like I have a lot to catch up on.” He gestured toward the TARDIS, “Shall we?” Jack figured the TARDIS would be a better spot to reunite than in his Torchwood and its nosey staff.

But the Doctor swiftly steered them in another direction. “Is that chippie still open? I fancy some fish and chips, how about you Rose?”

  
Rose agreed, not because she was hungry but because she remembered the Doctor explaining that the TARDIS wouldn’t accept Jack onboard now that he was a fixed point. Rose suspected that the TARDIS would be more accommodating that he expected, but didn’t want to hurt Jack’s feelings if he was right. She treaded an arm through both men’s elbows and they marched off across the plaza in collective déjà vu.


	3. Particulars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Over their meal they joked and laughed like old friends who felt the strangeness of being too long apart. All conversation, but the details are important to the plot.

Over their meal they joked and laughed like old friends who felt the strangeness of being too long apart. Jack told them about his team and some of their adventures. The Doctor asked him about some of the aliens and they compared notes on the damage from the Battle of Canary Wharf. Rose was quiet, remembering Mickey who’d sat with them the last time they’d been there. Dear sweet Mickey: he’d grown up so much since then, what with fighting the Cybermen and then the Daleks, living in a parallel world.... Those thoughts led her to think of her mum and how she would never see her again.... Some of her melancholy must have communicated to the Doctor because his hand found her knee under the table and gently squeezed. The diner came back into focus and she smiled into his questioning eyes. _I’m fine, Doctor. I’m exactly where I want to be._ Her hand found his and threaded their fingers together.  As always their touch was soothing to them both.

Jack pushed aside his empty plate and leaned in. “So, niceties aside Doctor. I have waited a very long time for some answers. What happened to me on the Game Station? I think I have a right to know.”

The Doctor cast a quick glance around the room. They were alone in a noisy sea of happy patrons. Still, he was careful to modulate his voice, “You’re a fixed point now Jack. Your existence is a fact in the fabric of time. You can’t die.”

“Yeah, I kinda figured that last bit out on my own. What I want to understand is how I got this way and can it be reversed. I also want to know why you left me stranded on Satellite 5.”

“I’m truly sorry you were left behind, Jack. After the Dalek’s were defeated Rose was unconscious and I was regenerating. It was all I could manage to get us back into the TARDIS.” He didn’t say what he’d felt the moment Jack revived and became a fixed point, nor that neither he nor the TARDIS couldn’t run away from him fast enough. “After that I was in a regenerative coma for some time and then there was the Sycorax invasion and then it was Christmas and well...” The Doctor shrugged apologetically using his free hand to rub at his forehead.

“Okay, so I got left behind in all the excitement. I get that. I don’t like it, but I get it. But how did I get to be like this and can it be reversed?”

The Doctor tugged on his ear – his other hand still held Rose’s and he took some comfort from the contact. A part of him desperately wished Rose was somewhere else right now and he could be more candid with Jack. “We were losing. I sent Rose home so she would be safe.” Jack nodded, he already knew that part. The Doctor could do no less than send Rose back in time to live out her life in safety. “But you know Rose, she didn’t stay there.” Jack glanced at Rose. She shrugged and leaned her head against the Doctor’s shoulder. “To get back, Rose opened the heart of the TARDIS so she could communicate with the ship directly and persuade it to countermand my emergency programming.”

“I looked into the TARDIS and the TARDIS looked into me,” Rose interjected softly. The Doctor jumped slightly. He had never told Rose those words and he hadn’t thought she remembered any of her time as Bad Wolf.

“Yes. Well in the meantime Jack, you were killed by the Dalek invasion force and they made it to the command level where I was. The delta wave wasn’t ready and I had no way to control it even if it was. It would have wiped out the Daleks and everything else on the station but then travelled on to Earth to annihilate it too.”

“That’s bad,” Jack commented.

“I surrendered.”

Jack blinked and swallowed hard. The idea of the Doctor surrendering was unimaginable. “But just as I was preparing to die, we were all rescued. A time goddess appeared and scattered the Dalek fleet into atoms. She also brought you back to life, but went a bit overboard and made you into a fixed event. She saved me too, but it was all too much and it started my regeneration process. Then Rose came back and we escaped in the TARDIS.” The Doctor hoped he wasn’t speaking as fast as he felt he was. “As to the second part of your question, can it be reversed, no I don’t think so.  Not without the goddess.”

Jack was struggling with the Doctor’s story. He’d seen many fantastical things in his long adventurous life, but never a real-to-life goddess. “A time goddess...” he mused.

“That would be me,” Rose said quietly. Both men stared at her. “What? You didn’t think I’d figure that out, Doctor? I was desperate to get back to you but I didn’t know how to fly the ship! Then I remembered how it had opened up to Blom Fel-Fotch and I figured if I could just talk to it, make it understand... Well Mum knew a bloke with a rescue lorry and we hooked on the chain and pulled and pulled and finally it broke open."  Rose's voice took on a dreamy quality, "Me and the TARDIS, we merged somehow – she really got into my head I’m guessing – and I had all her time power, the vortex, right? I remember a very bright light and there was singing, like the TARDIS sings to me sometimes, only it was louder and more complex and more beautiful. I didn’t recognize that’s what it was until just now, hearing you tell Jack."  She frowned at the Doctor, "What I don’t understand is why you kept it a secret from me. ”

“Rose...” the Doctor was scrambling in his brain to determine what she should be allowed to know. Would such knowledge hurt her mind? When he was regenerating she’d had amnesia and he’d thought that was the TARDIS tucking away harmful information from her human mind. Hadn’t she said her head hurt, that it was killing her, when she was Bad Wolf?

“Why, Doctor, why didn’t you tell me that’s what happened?”

“No one is meant to hold the Vortex in their body, Rose. Especially not a human! It was killing you and you were complaining about how your head was about to explode. When you woke up after and couldn’t remember anything, I thought the amnesia was a safeguard, that to remember would be dangerous for you.”

“My head’s not hurting now,” she challenged him. She wanted to know everything and felt the Doctor was still holding back.

Jack interrupted, reminding them that they were not alone at the table. “So you’re telling me that Rosie became a time goddess and gave me immortality?”

Rose gasped, “Oh Jack! I’m sorry! I didn’t realize... I just couldn’t stand the idea of you being dead...”

“You’re intentions were pure,” the Doctor soothed.

“It’s okay Rosie. Actually it’s come in pretty handy, if you want to know the truth.”

“But...”

Jack reached across the table and captured Rose’s other hand. “No, really; it’s okay. I was pretty freaked out at first and I’ve had a lot of questions for a very long time. But knowing that it was you, my friend, and that you didn’t want me to see me dead...well, you acted out of love, and so I accept that.”  Jack's voice and face earnestness and for the first time since they'd reunited, a certain tension left his body.

Rose stood up and came around to his side of the table for a hug. The Doctor stood as well, ready to get going. If he could leave before Jack or Rose asked anymore questions, he would count himself lucky indeed. Being around Jack was giving him a time-headache and he was worried he’d blurt out something he’d regret soon.


	4. Pronounce

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The TARDIS kidnaps Jack and does a new trick.

As they retraced their steps back towards the TARDIS Jack asked, “So what’s next for you two: back to the stars then?”

Rose looked inquiringly at the Doctor, but when he wasn’t forthcoming, she answered Jack. “I reckon so. You weren’t the only person the Doctor encountered as he chased me and the Master down and let’s just say his mood never improved.” She hugged his arm to demonstrate her own acceptance. “I think we have some more bridges to mend.”

The Doctor snorted his disdain at that. “Honestly Rose, I’m a time lord. We don’t actually have to go around apologizing for everything we do. And nobody else got hurt, well, not like Jack anyway.”

“Well there’s a comforting thought!” Jack quipped, “At least you’re not up on murder charges across the galaxy.”

“That’s a matter of opinion,” muttered the Doctor with a dark look at his friend.

“But Doctor,” Rose complained, “I thought we decided...”

“You decided, but I didn’t actually agree.” No! He was not going to look into those beguiling eyes of hers. “Jack can you explain to Rose why it might not actually be the best idea to drag her back through the armpit and underbelly of this universe to offer apologies to criminal scum?”

“I can see you point,” Jack agreed solemnly. “It sounds excessively dangerous, Rose. And most of that sort wouldn’t know an apology if it hit them in the face. You’d only be asking for more trouble.”

“Exactly.” They had reached the TARDIS and paused awkwardly. “Well, Jack, I guess this is goodbye for now. I’d invite you in but –“ as the Doctor spoke, the TARDIS door swung inward of its own volition.

Rose gasped and then grinned. Now, there was an overture of friendship if ever she’d seen one! “Guess the TARDIS won’t mind after all, eh Doctor?” Rose grabbed Jack’s hand and bounced triumphantly inside.

“What are you up to, old girl?” the Doctor muttered before following. Jack took a stroll around the console looking for changes. Seeing none, he smiled and swung his arms wide, “Honey, I’m home!” he sang out to the arching rafters above.

Rose laughed delightedly. “Team TARDIS!” She gave Jack a high five and looked expectantly at the Doctor.

The Doctor sighed resignedly. He was no longer certain his time headache was caused by Jack’s fixedness or if it was his primal urge to complete the bonding with Rose. Either way, he was decidedly uncomfortable with the current situation and needed to take control.

“Like old times. Nothing’s changed, well,” Jack gestured towards him, “you’ve changed obviously.” The physical changes from this and his previous form were striking, but Jack was more interested in learning the more subtle differences.

“Oh, there are some other changes,” the Doctor replied. If Jack was going to be around for any length of time, it was prudent to remind him of the “hands off the blond” policy. The Doctor reached out and tugged Rose to his side meaningfully. From his peripheral vision he tracked the tell tale blush flooding her face as he wrapped a possessive arm about her shoulders. What he really wanted to do was kiss her, but he was unsure about human protocols so he contented himself with holding her close.

“Really? Yes! That’s terrific Doc, Rose. I must say it’s about time you two owned up to your feelings.” Jack grinned, “And hey, if the twosome thing ever wears off...” he waggled his eyebrows and shimmied his hips.

“Harkness!” he growled as Rose hid her giggles in his shoulder.

“Just putting it out there.”

“You put out too much, in my opinion,” he groused and Rose’ giggles turned to muffled laughter.

“Stop!” she gasped. “Doctor, he’s only joking. You’re joking, right Jack?”

“Sure Rosie, just pulling his chain. But –“

“No buts,” although he quite liked how Rose’s unseen hand had slid down to rest on his. Unable to resist the lure of skin to skin contact his hand slid up her shoulder to reach under her hair and brush her nape. He let a trickle of attraction pass through his fingertips and nearly yelped when her small hand clenched his suited cheek. Where was his Time Lord ability to regulate his autonomic responses? Oh yes, he’d chucked them out the proverbial air lock this morning when Rose had made love to him with those lovely hands and fantastic mouth. This erotic helplessness was new and strange and excitingly disconcerting. With grim satisfaction he registered Rose’s elevated respiration and pheromone levels. He wasn’t the only one with lusty leanings. He had sudden visions of bending her over the console. Time to get rid of Jack and –

Abruptly the time rotor began to pulse and they left Cardiff.

“What did you do?” he shouted at Jack, rushing to the controls.

“Nothing, I swear!”

“Can she do that?” asked Rose. “No. Well, yes obviously, but not without some preprogramming, some kind of override, some sort of interference...” the Doctor frantically checked the monitors and attempted to regain control over his ship. “I’m locked out!” He grabbed the mallet and swung. “Whatever are you doing?” he demanded of his sentient ship. A couple of wallops and she sparked and lurched.

Jack grabbed the jump seat and Rose stumbled against the console. As soon as her hand landed on the surface a tingle of awareness shot up her arm. _Keep Jack_ was the fleeting impression Rose received before another lurch sent her to the floor in stunned amazement. The TARDIS had clearly spoken to her.

“Alright, Rose?” asked the Doctor, still trying to wrestle the controls.

“Sort of, yeah.” Both men paused to stare at her, tuning into the shocked sound of her voice.

“Rose?” “Rosie?”

“The TARDIS just spoke to me! In words! She said, _Keep Jack_!”

Surprised amazement swept over the Doctor and he dropped his mallet. This was definitely something new. The TARDIS never used words.

“Doctor, what were you thinking of just before she took off like that?” Rose asked him suspiciously.

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck. The curiousness of Rose's relationship with the TARDIS was a rabbit trail for another time.  He must keep to his priorities.  He looked sheepishly at Jack, “I’m sorry...”

Jack tried to hide his hurt and then determinedly set is aside. He was getting used to this alien’s rude behaviour. “I’m guessing you want some time alone with Rose? Why didn’t you just say so? It’s a big ship. Believe it or not I can be discrete.”

“The TARDIS wants him to stay, Doctor,” Rose reminded him. _So much for his being a fixed point!_ Obviously the TARDIS could accommodate, or shield herself, or ignore whatever it felt like to be around Jack. Why couldn’t the Doctor?

The Doctor threw up his hands in frustrated surrender, “Obviously!” So she wanted Jack here for some reason and what the TARDIS wanted she usually got.  He would have to deal with that. If he tried, it wasn’t really all that bad to be around him. He could mentally push away the skin crawling reaction his time senses were producing, at least for awhile. If this headache grew into a migraine, perhaps Rose would rub his temples... Ah. There was reason enough right there to keep Jack around!

Mentally he asked the TARDIS to show Jack the swimming pool and the library and the garden and basically keep him busy for a long time. He was desperate to be alone with Rose. Not only did he want to kiss her and show her once again how she was his soulmate in every way, he ached to bond. He had truly meant the words that had slipped out last night. He hadn’t planned it, but he would certainly be happy to finish it. He also understood that Rose had no idea what she had actually said in response and that was so unfair.

Sometime over the last forty-eight hours the Doctor had decided that condemning himself to eons of loneliness was a price well paid to be bonded to this magnificent human. He wasn’t exactly sure when he had decided loving from afar wasn’t enough: whether it was watching her fall toward the void, or being captured by the Master. Perhaps it was the Master’s own suggestion of bonding that cemented the desire, or it was the glorious intimacy they’d enjoyed at last in each other’s arms. The need had been born. His accidental contact with her mind had certainly sealed his fate.

Ultimately it would have to be Rose’s decision, but he would definitely press his suit. Once she understood the ramifications and the potential he fervently hoped she’d agree. But all this required some private conversations and having Jack as a third wheel was a distraction. Then again if he could succeed in bonding with Rose, witnesses were required and who better than Captain Jack Harkness, especially now that all of Rose’s family were locked away in the parallel world? Suddenly the Doctor had insight into Rose’s eagerness to have Jack back. He was family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well it's taken four chapters to get off the ground, but things will get going shortly. Comments? Questions? Review please...


	5. Propensity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack shrugged unrepentant and grinned. “No need to tell a lie Rose, when the truth is so impressive.” Sorry for the delay but here's the next chapter. A little bit of Team TARDIS at work.

Rose hardly knew where to look. “Honestly Jack, I thought you were making it up when in every adventure you said, you ended up naked.”

Jack shrugged unrepentant and grinned. “No need to tell a lie Rose, when the truth is so impressive.”

“Didn’t hurt volunteering for a strip search either,” grumbled the Doctor. “I’d loan you my coat but I’m afraid you’d split the back out.”

Jack preened, pleased with the Doctor’s oblique reference to his broad shoulders.

“Ha! I know...” the Doctor rummaged in his bigger-on-the-inside pocket and finally pulled out a pair of TARDIS blue swimming trunks. 

“Doc, you carry around a set of swimming trunks? What else do you have in there?”

“Just put them on, Harkness.”

“I wear a size 12 shoe, by the way.”

“11’s sorry,” although the tone of his voice said he wasn’t sorry at all.

“You know what they say about the size of a man’s foot, eh Doc?”

“Jack, hurry up. We still have to sneak out of here,” Rose cut in before the testosterone could get any thicker.

“All tucked in and tidy, ma’am,” Jack quipped. He gave her a teasing wink when Rose finally swung her gaze back to him.

“Right then,” the Doctor was all business though he made a point of taking Rose’s hand in his. “Nine meters down the left corridor is the lift shaft. That’s the way we came and that’s the way we’ll go.”

“But what if they repair the elevator before we can climb out of the shaft?” Rose worried.

The Doctor twirled his sonic screw driver in his free hand. “Not going to happen.”

“Let’s go before another security patrol comes along.”

They jogged to the shaft. Jack looked at the service ladder with distaste. The thin metal rungs would be hard on his bare feet. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to have a spare blaster in your transdimensional pocket, would you?”

“No guns, you know that.”

“Just checking.”

“I’ll go first in case I do have to use this,” he waved his sonic screwdriver. “Rose you follow me and Jack, bring up the rear.”

Jack waggled his eyebrows at Rose. “I don’t mind bringing up Rose’s rear.” Rose giggled and the Doctor growled before they all entered the disabled lift shaft and began their climb.

 

After three days standard Earth time, they had successfully solved the situation on Korvaxx’s second moon – Vaxx. “Three guesses as to what they named the first moon,” the Doctor had quipped. “Sadly what they lack in imagination they seem to have more than made it up with their ability to abuse and manipulate the population.” A meeting with the rebels, two rounds of being captured and escaping and one tense showdown later, and Team TARDIS had squashed the coup and reopened negotiations with Korvaxx Prime. 

“I think it’s time I checked in with my Torchwood team,” Jack announced as they dematerialized. “Being with you two again is wonderful, but I have other responsibilities now.”

The Doctor planned the flight to have them arrive later the same day they left. “It will just be like you had a long lunch with old friends,” he explained. Jack had been instrumental (nakedness aside) on their adventure and he wanted to make it easy as a way of thanking him.

The long lunch took a day less than four weeks.

Thankfully the Torchwood operatives were accustomed to Jack’s periodic and unexplained absences. “We were still a bit worried,” murmured Gwen Cooper as introductions went around.  
The Doctor shrugged. He knew he wasn’t that bad a driver – the TARDIS was just trying to keep him humble, he rationalized to himself.

“Sir,” Tosh interrupted one the pleasantries were over. “We have been getting some interesting readings.”

“Interesting? How interesting?”

“Very. Either a new rift has opened of a new life form is piggybacking on the present one.”

“How long?” By now everyone was clustered around Tosh’s computer. The Doctor pulled out his glasses to peer at the readings over Jack’s shoulder and Rose couldn't help her admiring stare.

“It started shortly after you left,” Ianto answered. “We’ve been monitoring it, but so far there have been no reports of unusual activity on the ground.”

“Just the energy itself then?” the Doctor tried to recall where he had seen that energy signature before.

“Where is it coming from?” Jack asked.

“Egypt.”

“Egypt? That’s always been such a stable area. What do you think, Doc? Fancy a little side trip?”

“Well, since we’re practically in the neighbourhood.”

“And it’s something new. Might be dangerous,” Rose added with a grin.

“Allons-y!”

With quick instructions to his team, Jack hurried after Rose and the Doctor.


	6. Purloined

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team TARDIS track the mysterious energy and spring a trap.

He loved a good puzzle. Locating the signal was simple, but deciphering its origin and nature was not. Although he recognized a few tantalizing elements in the energy signature, the answer remained elusive. So far the energy seemed benign, but that didn’t mean it would stay that way. Even with his brainy specs and considerable hair ruffling there was nothing to do but track it down on foot.

“The pyramids of Giza, that’s as far as I can get,” he grumbled, “and I am no closer to understanding why it’s here or what’s is for.”

“I’ve never been to the pyramids,” Rose offered. Doing something new always cheered the Doctor.

“No? I’ve never taken you? What about the red pyramids of Foorg? Oh, you mean on Earth; Rose despite what archeologists would say, one pyramid is much like the next,” the Doctor commented. “Well today you may see more of them than you ever want to. Best dress for hot dry temperatures.”

“They are pretty amazing,” Jack stated. “I’ve been in the area a couple of times myself, but never actually inside one.”

“I read that they were made by aliens,” she offered, tongue in cheek.

“You might be right,” the Doctor smiled, “but you didn’t hear it from me.”

While Jack and Rose raided the wardrobe for suitable dessert pyramid exploring outfits, the Doctor added a couple of canteens to his pockets. 

 

The runner jogged to a stop. “Looks like it forks up ahead. You take the left and I’ll take the right.”

“Right.”

“Right?” Jack shot a puzzled glance over his shoulder. “Uh, okay then I’ll go left...”

“Whatever you say, Captain.” The smirk on his face told Jack that he was going joked with for his natural habit of assuming command in any situation.

Jack grinned back and sketched a salute before sprinting off down the corridor.

The Doctor chuckled and Rose smiled: her men loved to tease. “This way Rose.” They broke into a run but before they could enter their portion of the pyramid’s corridor, the Doctor received a hard shove to his back and Rose’s hand was torn from his grip.

The sudden shove cost the Doctor his balance and his wind milling arms could not keep him from doing a chin plant on the dusty floor. Rose’s cry was cut off as a sinewy forearm pressed against her windpipe. Their shouting caused Jack to pause and begin to run back towards his friends. Oh, why had he succumbed to the Doctor’s No Guns policy?

As the Doctor scrambled to his fee and Jack drew near, a heavy wooden gate slammed down separating them from Rose and her captor. The Doctor leapt for the bars, throwing his weight against them. “Let her go!” Jack lent his muscle to the cause but it held fast.

“I won’t be letting anyone go.” A familiar figure stepped out from behind a shadowy pillar.

Rose panicked and began to struggle anew. She clawed at the arm holding her and tried to kick back at his legs. No, no, no! The Doctor had promised she would never have to deal with this monster again. But that was the trouble with real monsters: they kept coming back. And the Doctor couldn’t always keep his promises.

Reluctantly, the Doctor’s gaze shifted from the swarthy giant who held Rose to his nemesis. “How did you get out?” 

The Master smiled coldly. “Wouldn’t you like to know, but that will be my secret. I might need that escape plan again sometime. It’s never wise to show all your cards. Ah, I see Captain Harkness is back among the living. How very curious. But right now, I have more important pleasures at hand.” He reached over and wrapped a lock of Rose’s hair around his finger. “Stop struggling, my dear. Our friend here might snap your neck accidentally. I’m taking Rose Tyler and the TARDIS.”

“No!” shouted both trapped men.

“Your quarrel is with me,” the Doctor added. “Let her go. Take me!”

“Wrong again, Doctor. I will shortly have everything I want. You no longer factor into my plans.

Much sooner than she could believe they were exiting the pyramid. The Master strode across the plaza and directly toward the dunes and the TARDIS. Rose couldn’t believe how they could move through the crowds unchallenged. Didn’t they see she was being kidnapped? If their noses weren’t buried in their cell phones or their eyes shuttered behind their camera lens... if only she could scream... her feet slipped in the sand and her neck and shoulder muscles were stretched painfully as her air supply was compromised.

“Don’t break her,” the Master ordered. 

Despite the warning, her captor couldn’t stop from rendering her unconscious as she persisted in fighting him with all the panicked strength she could muster. With an irritated grunt, the giant slung her limp form over his shoulder.

Using the key copied from the one he’d stolen in their first encounter, the Master unlocked the TARDIS and then opened his arms to receive Rose. “This is where we part ways, my friend. I don’t usually leave my accomplices alive but since you have no tongue to wag and are too stupid to read or write, I don’t think you’ll be any help to them. If anything you’ll be an added frustration and I quite like that idea. So off you go. Go, wreak havoc and be well.”

Once inside, the Master paused to finally gaze upon the cavernous control room with a covetous eye. No wonder the Doctor was so attached to his ship; its age, its wisdom, its leashed power were an addictive elixir to his telepathic mind. What a magnificent creature to bend to his will! It had been a very long time since the Master had had a TARDIS. How he had missed this.

He looked down at the woman in his arms and a strangely tender expression passed over his features. “Now you are both mine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He's baaaaack!


	7. Possession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose shook her head. “You’re insane.”  
> “Oh, absolutely. The High Council made sure of that. But you’ll learn it has its advantages. I can function without remorse or pity or any of those annoying emotions. You could say the drums beat it out of me.”

Jack hesitated to put a gentling hand on the furious Doctor. “We’ll get her back, Doc. Rose will be okay. We just gotta get out of here.”

The Doctor stilled at his words, but did not release his white knuckled grip on the bars. “I promised her. I promised her she would never have to deal with him again.”

“We can’t always keep our promises.”

The Doctor glared at him and Jack took an involuntary step back. He had been on the receiving end of that anger once. Then before his eyes, the Doctor’s demeanor changed: the fury was carefully tamped down and packed away behind an icy mask. Jack suppressed a shiver. Cold was more frightening than hot.

“My sonic won’t work on wood. He knew that.”

“Wait a minute, you have a screwdriver that doesn’t work on wood?”

“It’s sonic. We have to find another exit. Right or left?”

“Right. I was coming up on a dead end when the shouting started. Seriously, you don’t have setting for wood yet? How long have you had that thing?”

“Right it is.” The Doctor pushed away from the bars. Even while he ran away his heart was tugging to go in the direction Rose had been taken. The part of his mind not already engaged in keeping his emotions under tight control, or mentally mapping the pyramid maze, was dwelling on the Master’s parting words. What did he mean: he no longer factored into his plans? The universe was too small for the both of them if he thought for a moment he’d stop hunting for Rose. _Never give up. Never back down. Never cruel or cowardly._ Well, he hadn’t always lived up to that last bit...

“Great! More wood,” huffed Jack as they turned a corner.

“Petrified wood,” the Doctor qualified. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and made a quick adjustment. “Best duck around the corner. You might be immortal but you’re not impervious.” He aimed his tool at the barrier and in a few seconds was rewarded with an impressive explosion of splinters.

Minutes later they burst out of the pyramid. The aching void in the Doctor’s pounding head confirmed what his superior hearing had just caught: the last fading wheeze of the TARDIS. “They’re gone,” he groaned.

Jack stared at him. They were stranded at the pyramids in Giza, about to be swarmed by security guards if previous experience was anything to go by. Thankfully they were in the right decade so he could contact Torchwood for an extraction. But how could they ever find the time and space travelling TARDIS with the Master at the helm? How would they ever rescue Rose?

“Doc, Torchwood is at your disposal.”

The Doctor took a deep breath, wrestled his inner demons into temporary submission and managed a tight smile. “Thank you, Jack.”

 

Rose awoke to worried singing on the edge of her mind. She was in the TARDIS. The familiar contours of the jump seat told her exactly where she was. Cautiously she cracked an eyelid and watched the Master at the controls. Unlike the manic athleticism of the Doctor, the Master was almost languid in his movements.

“You can stop pretending to be unconscious.”

“How did...”she rasped. Her throat was bruised from the abuse.

“How did I what? Get in? I copied you key when last we met. Overrode the bio-lock? I just used your pretty hand.

“How did you find us?”

“Really Rose? Do you think I’m thick? I knew sooner or later you’d want to return to your cozy home planet. How’s your mum, by the way? All I had to do was dangle a mauve-coloured carrot and you two do-gooders would run to me.”

Rose pushed herself up into a sitting position. Only then did she notice the manacle on her left wrist. Again? Did he carry around a supply with him or what? Surely the TARDIS hadn’t done this. “How did you keep the Doctor from sensing you? He told me time lords can always tell when they are around other time lords.” She felt it was important to keep the Master talking, to steer the conversation for as long as possible.

“Oh there are ways around that. Dampening fields like pyramid energy, especially when that energy has had centuries to build up and you are standing in the heart of it all.” The Master began to stalk toward her. “Speaking of energy, don’t you want to ask why I’ve invited you here?”

“You needed me to over ride the bio-lock?”

“You didn’t need to be alive for that. I could have just used a body part.”

“Oh.”

“Come on, you’re supposed to be a clever girl. Why don’t you ask why I want you...alive...alone...in my TARDIS?”

Anger flashed hot and defensive. “She’s not your TARDIS!”

He pounced. “Possession is 9/10ths of the law.” He grabbed her jaw and forced her face towards him. Her anger was exciting. He bent down and kissed her hard. The more she struggled the more he enjoyed it. Her fire was seductive. He crushed her lips against her clenched teeth until one spilt and he could taste her blood. Salty and sweet and... “Blaugh!” He jerked way and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “So the Doctor finally got over his pious morals. I can taste him in your blood, Rose. He kissed you recently.” The Master frowned thoughtfully. “No, it’s more than that...”

The Master’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully before widening in surprise. “Rassilon! You are lovers! Whooooeee!” He crowed and clapped his hands. “Oh I want you for my own reasons, but to know that I’ve stolen the Doctor’s playmate too! Well, isn’t that just the cherry on top! I’m guessing he bedded you after our last little adventure, eh? You can thank me for pushing him over his silly line in the sand. I’ll try not to be too jealous that I’m not your first time lord. Actually, you can consider him to have been the warm-up act. This,” he gestured to his own body, “is your main attraction.”

Rose shook her head. “You’re insane.”

“Oh, absolutely. The High Council made sure of that. But you’ll learn it has its advantages. I can function without remorse or pity or any of those annoying emotions. You could say the drums beat it out of me.”

Despite herself, Rose was curious. “What drums?”

“My drums: all the time – in my head.” His fingers tapped out a sequence against his thigh. “On and on. Never stopping. Never changing. Can you hear them?” He jumped in front of her again, trapping her head with his hands, fingers to her temples. “Can you hear them Rose?” he stared into her eyes.

His consciousness pushed into hers and suddenly she heard what he was tortured by. She gasped and tried to pull away. He held her head in a vise, using each pound of the drum to push deeper into her mind until blackness swept over her and she fainted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments?


	8. Potential

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose and the Master play mental hide 'n seek, and a glimpse into the relationship between Rose and the TARDIS.

He chased after her consciousness as it skittered away from him. It had been so long since he’s shared another’s mind and she was alluring on multiple levels: purity, potential, power. He tried to grasp hold and keep her but she evaded him and eventually a dark impenetrable curtain descended, separating them completely.

It was obvious from the first touch that she had no shields or defensive mental skills and yet there he was, effectively shut out. The Master frowned. There were no signs that the Doctor had meddled with her; even though he'd been in her head his telepathic signature barely registered. Her surface thoughts had been as expected for a basic human – an undisciplined mass more chaotic due to his actions. Yet beneath the flotsam, he was sure there had lurked something else. Something... other: a latent potential that was a siren song to his megalomaniac proclivities.

Impatiently he dropped his hands and scowled down on Roses’ drooping form. His palm itched to slap her back to wakefulness so he could delve in again. Unfortunately he expected such action would only yield the same results. While he might be mad, he wasn't going to waste time with useless repetition. He needed a better plan. Maybe some drug therapy could lower her resistance without making her so befuddled he still could not touch what he craved. “Let’s go see what the Doctor left us. If he lives up to his name there should be a full pharmacy at my disposal.”

 

Rose cowered behind the velvet curtain, hiding from the hurtful drums and the dark force chasing her. Its soft fabric seemed a flimsy shelter and yet behind its thick folds the drums were distinctly muffled. If she stayed small and very quiet she reasoned she could stay hidden away. But then, how would the Doctor ever find her? The Doctor...and Jack...they were trapped. She had to save them.

Beautiful music replaced the driving drums and Rose turned instinctively toward it. The TARDIS was singing a soothing song of peace and security. She knew, as much as she was able, the sentient ship would protect her. A golden path of light spiralled away from the velvet shelter and Rose took a few hesitant steps. She marvelled how the light bore her weight and felt so solid beneath her feet. Rose understood that she was dreaming and would have to awaken soon to face her captor. She must fashion an escape or survive until rescue, but just for this moment she basked in TARDIS’s ministry to her bruised psyche.

The TARDIS song changed to one of strength and Rose leaned into it, feeding her courage and resolve. The confident understanding that she was loved and accepted bolstered her. She even felt a niggling of compassion for the Master; the drums which had briefly terrified her tormented him constantly. Regrettably the TARDIS could not drown out the drums for him too. How long had he endured them? Was it any wonder that he was mad? Perhaps the Doctor knew this about him.

Another song began to swell, brighter and more beautiful, and yet the melody seemed to be unfinished, the chord structure unresolved. Rose felt inexplicably frustrated and sad. She wanted to reject this new tune, but as she tried to separate it from the rest of the TARDIS music, everything began to fade away. A sudden shiver of unease ended the songs completely.

 

Rose gasped and jerked upright. A quick scan revealed she was alone. She shook her tethered arm meaningfully. “I don’t suppose you can do something about this, yeah?” The idling time rotor swooshed gently. She sighed, “No I figured as much.”

The longer Rose sat alone, the more she had to fight the jitters. She knew this to be a basic captivity tactic, but such knowledge didn’t keep her from wondering and worrying what the Master had in store for her next. Not for the first time, Rose wished the Doctor had thought to give her bigger-on-the-inside pockets, or better yet her own sonic screwdriver. Even a simple bobby pin would have allowed her to try lock picking. If she could just get free the TARDIS could hide her indefinitely. If she hunted long enough maybe she could find a weapon to neutralize the Master. _Were all time lords allergic to Aspirn?_ If she could reach the console maybe she could send a signal to the Doctor to follow. But these “if only” thoughts were adding to her agitation and she needed to be calm. She needed to focus. She remembered that was how the Doctor tried to interact with the Master – not give him any negative emotions he could feed upon. But it was so hard...

“Bloody ship tried to play tricks on me,” the Master complained marching into the room. “TARDISes are cultivated to serve time lords. I had to remind her of that.” Rose craned her neck to see him. In his hand he carried one of the hypo-spray injectors from med bay. She suppressed a gasp and felt her heartbeat escalate. Was he planning to drug her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts and comments are always appreciated. It was a challenge to basically write a chapter that's all interior thought/activity.


	9. Pressure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tensions mount.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to change the ratings thanks to that baddie and his evil desires.

_“Thank you, Jack,”_ were the last words the Doctor spoke as they waited for extraction. He ignored the security guards’ interrogation. He snubbed the Giza police captain. If Jack hadn’t exercised his own talent for smooth talking and charm they would probably be cooling their heels in an Egyptian prison instead of standing on the hot tarmac watching the private jet touchdown. He still had friends in high places. Jack was familiar with the Doctor’s previous penchant for brooding but he’d become rather fond of this Doctor’s loquaciousness. The extended silence was becoming a bore if not just plain creepy.

He watched the Doctor from the corner of his eye; he didn’t really want to get caught in his dark stare. It wasn’t that the Doctor had shut down completely. He still walked and sat as directed. He still turned his head at random sounds and once in awhile his left hand would twitch before he shoved it into his pocket. Jack fancied that if he pressed his ear to the time lord’s head he would hear the gears whirring and grinding as the Doctor created his plan. His job as a good soldier and third partner on this team was to stand at the ready because when the Doctor did speak, it would be fast, detailed and demanding. There was absolutely no way he would be left behind this time.

 

“No, please!” She grabbed his wrist with desperate strength. If he drugged her she knew she’d slip further into his grasp.

The Master was mildly surprised at her display of physical strength, but then adrenaline could be such a powerful enhancer. He studied her face appraisingly; she was rather pretty by human standards, but her eyes... oh, her eyes were so much more... Against his better judgement he found himself hesitating. He was falling under her spell and suddenly wanted the attraction reciprocated. “There is another way, my dear,” he said slowly, suddenly wishing he had a mustache to twirl and a cape flourish like some carcurature villain before his virginal captive. Instead he stepped back, pulling his arm free and carefully setting the injector on top of the console in plain sight. Magnanimously he would give her a choice.

“All my life – well, this regeneration at least – I’ve only wanted two things. I’ve wanted to live up to my name, the Master, and I’ve wanted to destroy the Doctor.” He sighed looking around at the TARDIS once more noticing all the changes from the default setting he remembered. Briefly he wondered if the changes had been the Doctor’s decision or the TARDIS’s design. He’d had a TARDIS before. He’d forgotten how much he’d missed having its presence in his lonely mind. Lonely, yes that was what he was now: lonely because the drums made for very poor company. Eventually, his gaze sung back to Rose – the solution to his loneliness. “Since our last little encounter I’ve found I want something else. I don’t care about the Doctor anymore. Yes, yes, losing you and the TARDIS will be upsetting for him I’m sure, but that doesn’t really signify for me. That’s just a cosmic bonus.”

He smiled at her pleasantly focusing his charm. “Since I met you, Rose Tyler, ever since I tasted you and touched you, I’ve found myself inexplicably obsessed with you.” He stood up suddenly and began to pace. Any display of weakness made him nervous and this attraction might become a weakness if he wasn’t careful. “It’s astounding to me really. You’re a human after all, but there is this something,” he snapped his fingers as if to find the right words, “something about you that I just cannot resist. I absolutely have to have you and I will not take no for an answer.”

Rose mutely shook her head, astounded at his words.

“It’s true! It would be embarrassing, humiliating actually, if it wasn’t absolutely true. You have an aura, a signature of power about you that calls to me and I am totally smitten. You must be my consort. Together we can rule all the worlds, all of time and space.”

“Impossible.”

“Don’t be too hasty. Think of the possibilities. For starters, we could forget about this little cocktail,” he fondled the injector. He was a very clever chemist and rather proud of his creation but he’d set it aside if she would agree to him without its coercion. “Also once we are together, you might just be able to persuade me to leave the Doctor alone. You don’t think I was just going to let him leave those pyramids safely, did you?”

Rose tugged futilely on her manacle.

“Look around you, Rose. We are alone in the Vortex. No one can find us here and here we will stay until I have what I want.”

“Look at me. You already have me. I’m here,” Rose was ignoring the lascivious light in his pale eyes and the way he licked his lips as she spoke.

“Not yet, not exactly _have_ , not in the carnal sense,” he purred. He relished the tiny beads of sweat appearing on her upper lip. She was just so stimulating.

As much as he knew taking her physically was going to be very enjoyable, he knew what he really wanted wasn’t her nubile body. Her power didn’t reside in her body – as evidenced by how easily she could be captured – so it had to reside in her spirit or her mind. He was determined to crack her open and break her spirit and take her mind. He would not rest until he had completely consumed her.

“No.”

“Come on, I know you want to. I remember how you felt in my arms, under my fingertips. I remember how you writhed and moaned as I touched you. You were so hot and so wet and frankly I had just started. We will be magnificent together.”

“I thought you were him.”

“Really? Did you really believe that or did you just want to believe it? It's easier to think I duped you than to accept that you betrayed him; is that it?”

“Yes, I mean no.”

“Indecision, Rose? I like that, I can work with that.” He was coming into her space again. Rose tried to slide away but she could only go so far. He ignored her rejection and leaned over her, bracing himself on the back of the seat, straddling her legs. He captured her free hand in his and pushed it against his groin. “I will possess you, Rose Tyler: body, mind and soul. We will be one and we will be Master of everything.”

Beneath her hand she felt him swelling and growing hard. Rose fought the bile that rushed up her throat. Maybe vomiting would cool him off, she thought for a second, but then feared his unpredictable retaliation. No emotion: that’s what the Doctor would do, she reminded herself. “Nope sorry not going to happen. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...”she shrugged tugging at her hand.

“You can’t refuse me, not for long. I will not allow it.” He rutted against her. “You’ll never want for another lover.”

“You’re nothing like the Doctor.”

“Exactly.” With his other hand he grabbed her chin and kissed her roughly. When she tried to bite him he wound his hand into her hair and pulled her head back so he could kiss and suck and bite her throat while she screamed and tried to twist away. Satisfied that he had marked her, he pumped harder into her hand, crushing it between his iron grip and his crotch. The rush was sensational as he watched the pain and the revulsion play across her features. He loved the control he had over her. He didn’t need her compliance. He felt powerful and he knew this was only the beginning. Before he exploded in his pants, he shut his eyes and marshalled his bodily functions. Control, delayed gratification, anticipation. Oh, this was just so much fun! The fact that the Doctor was attracted to this human only convinced him more that she was the prize he wanted and that his addled senses were not betraying him in his desires. Ruining her would be sweet, sweet revenge.


	10. Power

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When coercion doesn't work, the Master uses drugs to touch the power he craves. The effect is more than he expected.

“The only way we’re having sex is if you rape me!” she spit at him when he released her. She flexed her bruised wrist and fought the urged to wipe her hand on the jump seat. Even through fabric she was repulsed that she had touched him so intimately.

“Love,” he corrected her “We will make love, Rose Tyler. And when it comes to the sex, you’ll be more than just compliant. You will hunger for my touch and my taste. You will beg for me to enter you and fill you with my seed. You will never want to be apart from me. You will love me. We will be one.”

“I don’t know what fantasy world you live in mate, but that’s never going to happen!”

“Ah, but it will. In the next 15 minutes.” He picked up the injector. “The first effect will be immediate: you will be sedated and I will move you to a more comfortable location and take off your clothing.” Rose strained against her manacle. “When you awake you will already be chemically aroused and eager for my attention. You will ache for me with every fiber of your body and will find comfort only in my touch and my kiss. I will then manually stimulate you until you have had a least two orgasms and beg me to bury myself inside. I want to hear you beg, Rose Tyler. I want to hear you scream my name and weep for me to satisfy you. I am so going to enjoy being sheathed in you, Rose. Your flesh will be tight and hot and I will pound deep into you.” The Master tapped out a familiar rhythm on the injector’s shaft. “The effects of the drug will stay in your system for at least twelve hours so we will repeat the process multiple times. My stamina is impressive and the drugs will help you keep up. A side effect of this particular cocktail is enhancement of your limited psychic abilities. Once I have satiated my physical craving for your body, I will take your mind and use it to silence the drums. You shall be the Master’s bond mate and everything I have told you will come true.”

Tears spilled down Roses’ cheeks as she listened to him. Helplessness swelled like a tidal way. The Master’s words terrified her. How could she escape? Where was the Doctor and how could he save her from this nightmare? Rape, even being held as a sex slave was horrible enough but the Master had said “take your mind and use it”. The Doctor had said something about bonds, but he’d never had the chance to explain. At the time Rose figured it was some Gallifrey relationship thing, like courting or even marriage, but this sounded much more drastic and definitely with the wrong time lord!

“No, please, don’t do this,” she whispered. The Master ignored her and pressed the injector to the side of her neck.

The stinging pain was followed by a cooling sensation that ran down her neck and over her chest. Numbness swept out to her extremities and she lost all muscle control. Her eyelids drifted shut, but her mind did not slide into darkness. She felt the Master take off the manacle and lift her into his arms. Her head lolled uselessly against his shoulder. She heard his boots clang on the metal grating as he carried her off.

A strange warming returned to her body where it was pressed against the Master’s muscular torso and held in his strong arms. She mutely protested when suddenly deposited on a soft mattress. Horrified, Rose understood that this was the drug working in her body. Already her skin craved contact. What had he said, when she woke up she would already be aroused? But then she’d never actually passed out! This was more like those nightmare coma patient stories you read about where the person is totally aware but totally helpless to communicate. Rose tried to force her eyelids to open, but they stayed stubbornly closed.

Beginning with her trainers, she felt various articles of clothing being tugged off her yielding form. The Master’s hands were not harsh but they were cruel in their relentlessness. In seconds she was completely naked and she had not been able to fight for her modesty. She felt the mattress compress beside her. Her heart was racing and Rose could not decide if it was the drug or adrenaline, but the blood pounding in her ears made her nearly deaf to the Master’s whispers.

“So warm and creamy and smooth; you have lovely skin, my dear. What a tragedy to have hidden so much of it under fabric. Maybe I’ll keep you naked forever. Did you know that your hips and pelvic spread are perfect for procreation? With a bit of genetic engineering we can make you a mother. Would you like to have a baby, Rose? Have a tiny time lord to suckle at your breast? Someday...in our future... but for now your body is all for me.” His lips stopped forming words and began to lavish lazy kisses beginning on her forehead and travelling across her face to her ear. His breath on her ear was an erotic tickle Rose fought to ignore, “My darling, my beautiful Rose.” His tongue swirled into her ear canal and Rose felt a jolt of raw pleasure. In that moment she was grateful she was comatose so he could not see her response.

The weight on the mattress suddenly disappeared and then Rose could hear rustling and muted thuds. He was stripping! _Escape! Escape!_ Again she struggled for control over her body but was denied.

“Rose? Rose, awake my slumbering beauty.” The mattress dipped again. “Did I give you too much, darling? This is disappointing.” A curious hand shook her shoulder. “I guess I’ll have to be patient. But I can still be busy.” The curious hand slid across to her breast and firmly massaged it, tugging on the nipple. Automatically, the nipple tightened. “Excellent you are so responsive. Let’s get you body ready while we wait for your mind to wake up.” His mouth descended upon the other breast and began to suck. Even as she mentally railed against it, warmth was building in her breasts and spreading down her ribcage. The tugging and suction was building pressure almost to the edge of pain. Wildly Rose hoped he would hurt her – that would surely turn off the chemically induced flame she was writhing in – but the Master seemed to know exactly how far he could go and he stayed just inside the line.

By now all of the numbness in Rose’s body had been replaced with a tingling hypersensitivity. It felt like fire ants were crawling all over her skin. The only places they were not tormenting her were where he was touching her so she really couldn’t mind it when he crawled on top of her. He pushed her legs apart with his knees. She could feel his hard length pressed against her belly. With a wet pop, his mouth left her breast and kissed its way over to the other side to begin the sucking and tugging again. He began to rock his hips. The fire ants crawled between her legs and into her folds.

On the inside Rose was screaming. She didn’t want this! Her body was betraying her with the chemical aphrodisiac but her heart and her mind were recoiling in horror. _This is not right. This can’t be happening. I can’t let the Master take me. Never. This body is for the Doctor. This mind is for the Doctor. My Doctor. It must be kept safe._

The darkness behind Rose’ eyelids lightened.

The Master felt the power ripple beneath him for one entirely glorious second before he was thrust up toward the ceiling by an invisible force. He opened his eyes in shocked surprise to see Rose staring up at him. She still laid spread eagled on the bed but her eyes were now wide open. Her eyes... they glowed like the Untempered Schism, like the heart of the TARDIS, like the Vortex of Time and Space itself. Even as he was held suspended, he felt himself being pulled down into her eyes.

“She is not for you,” Rose intoned in an eerie voice that was not quite her own.

“How?” the Master wheezed, the pressure on his chest holding him aloft also kept him from breathing properly.

“Your injection enhanced her psychic abilities and allowed access without physical connection.”

This was the power he had sensed in Rose, what had called to him and seduced him into lusting after her. “Who?”

“I am Bad Wolf. I create myself. You are tiny. You are the pitiful time lord.”

Naked and suspended in thin air, he still blustered. “I am the Master! Do not pity me!”

“I do. I hear the drums that have tormented you and driven you mad and I remove them.” Rose waved an arm and there was a vacuum of silence.

“My drums!” Large tears fell from the Master and splashed upon Bad Wolf, “but I don’t know who I am without my drums.” The void left by their absence was more horrific than their demented torment.

Rose smiled and Bad Wolf lifted her hand again. Golden light rose from her fingertips and swirled around the Master. Within the light his shape began to change, shrinking and softening and becoming female. Long raven hair and almond shaped eyes gave an exotic twist to the angular features.

“You will go away now.”

The Master vanished in a flash of light that filled the room.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This past year I've had a couple of severe attacks of hives triggered by some mysterious allergy. That sensation was my inspiration for the "fire ants" Rose suffers.


	11. Present Perfect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Master/Missy has been banished and team TARDIS is reunited.

Rose Tyler lay supine on the bed staring at nothing and running a quick check on her status. She was aware of the TARDIS’s anxiousness pressing in. “Give me a mo’. Yep, Bad Wolf must have burned away that drug: no more fire ants, thank you very much!” What Rose did not observe was that her split lip and bruises were also gone. Rose rolled off the bed and quickly redressed. For the first time she got a chance to look around the plain space. “I know he forced you, but thanks for at least not letting him use our rooms for his evil plans.” With ruthless efficiency she gathered up the Master’s castoff clothing and tossed them in a bin where she knew the TARDIS would reduce, reuse or recycle as needed. “Good riddance.”

The room disappeared as soon as Rose exited. Rose hoped she could tuck away the memories as effectively.

“Let’s go get the Doctor,” Rose told the time rotor as she flicked switches and twisted knobs. The fact that she suddenly knew how to fly the TARDIS sent a momentary chill down her spine. She remembered everything from this last encounter with Bad Wolf and understood some of what it meant. Apparently Bad Wolf was the merging of herself and the TARDIS, thus becoming a channel of Vortex power. Rose’s human mind did not have the psychic capabilities to sustain a permanent merging, but ironically the Master’s cocktail had given her the necessary boost. What he had meant to harm her had actually protected her.

She felt an overwhelming urge to see the Doctor and determine that he and Jack were okay.

Before the TARDIS had fully materialized, the men in question were running through the maze of Torchwood corridors towards her. Rose ran out the door and straight into the Doctor’s eager arms. Jack, weapon drawn, cast an uneasy eye at the TARDIS. Where was that bastard?

“Rose!” the Doctor exclaimed crushing her tight. “What happened? Where is he? Did hurt you? I’m so sorry; I promised he would never get you again. I’m so sorry!”

“I’m fine, Doctor! I’m fine! Look at me, I’m okay, yeah?” She pulled away enough that he could actually look at her and not just the top of her head.

More armed Torchwood agents poured into the room.

“Where’s the Master?” asked Jack. “Did you toss him out an air lock?”

“Not quite,” Rose chuckled and the Doctor looked at her strangely. “All that really matters right now is that he’s gone and he’s not coming back – ever.”

“Rose?” the Doctor queried. His time senses were crackling.

“Let’s just say that if he ever did come back, he wouldn’t be himself.” Rose smiled enigmatically and for a second he thought her whiskey eyes flashed gold.

“Good enough for me!” Jack slapped a congratulatory hand on both the Doctor and Rose’s shoulders before dismissing the other agents back to regular duties. He shot them both a hard look that said he wanted all the details later.

“How long have I been away?” she asked the Doctor as soon as they were alone. He looked stressed, but not exhausted.

“17 hours, 24 minutes, 15 seconds. There was some trouble getting out of Giza, but Jack was brilliant. We’ve only just arrived here and I was commandeering some equipment when I knew the TARDIS had come.” The Doctor’s amazement was evident in his voice. How had she managed to defeat the Master and return to him? He was angry with himself for failing to keep his promise and slightly jealous of Rose affecting her own escape. He almost felt redundant. 

The flicker of gold brought to his memory the last time Rose had single handedly defeated a superior foe and saved him in the process: Bad Wolf. How had Bad Wolf returned? Where was it now and how had Rose survived it? Was she really okay?

Rose reached up and placed a gentle hand on his cheek interrupting his thoughts. “Good.” She replied. “I didn’t want you to have to worry any longer than absolutely necessary. I know how much of a terror you can be.” 

“Oh, Rose,” the Doctor shook his head admiringly before leaning down for a kiss. 

Rose had a momentary panic just as his lips touched hers. Would the Doctor taste the Master on her skin again? That would be sure to set him off! But the panic dissolved into pleasant surprise and then deep joy as the Doctor’s kiss continued and deepened. Bad Wolf had burned away more than just the drug in her system.

 

“...so you see, everything turned out fine.” Rose concluded her (heavily redacted) debriefing and took a big gulp of cooling tea. 

“Sounds like Bad Wolf is here to stay,” Jack observed leaning back in his chair. Team TARDIS had chosen to meet up in the ship’s galley to ensure their privacy.

“I guess. I don’t feel her all the time or anything. Not like I do the TARDIS.”

“But you didn’t use to feel the TARDIS all the time either,” the Doctor observed. “You definitely have a closer connection now.” He was recalling the singular time the TARDIS had used actual words to communicate with Rose. Keep Jack. Looking back, he was glad he’d listened. Without Jack’s presence, he probably would not have contained the Oncoming Storm and Earth had enough messes of her own to clean up without a raging time lord mucking about.

“I guess you’re right, Doctor, but that seemed to happen so gradually I never noticed it changing.”

“Hmmm,” the Doctor was noncommittal and the calculating gleam in his eye warned Rose that there would be examinations and testing in her future. When it came to her well being he didn’t like any unsolved mysteries.

“Well I for one am grateful,” Jack announced. “You have to admit, she’s saved the day more than once. Having all the power flowing through you, must have been pretty sexy, eh Rose?”

Rose hid the shiver that his words prompted. That’s exactly what the Master had thought.

“It was a good thing, this time,” the Doctor qualified. “But all that power is still very, very dangerous. Nobody is meant to do that.” He kissed the knuckles of the hand he held and thanked the universe for saving her. He had let her down by not keeping the Master away but at least Bad Wolf had intervened. He worried about all that Rose had not told them about her adventure. Remembering their last encounter and how the Master had abused her, he restrained his curiosity; best to ask those questions for when Jack was not around.

They chatted some more before Jack stood and gave them a reluctant smile. “Well kids, I think I should be going. Somebody has to look after those Torchwood fellows and it seems to be my job now. It’s been terrific and I hope we can do it again sometime. Soon. At least in my timeline that is. You, well you have a time machine so...”he shrugged good-naturedly. 

Rose jumped up to kiss his cheek and hug him tight. “Thanks Jack. It was wonderful having you back and we will come around, right Doctor?”

The Doctor tugged his ear, “Well...”

“Doctor!” Rose tried to sound scandalized, but Jack just laughed.

“Oh, you know you love me,” Jack challenged the Doctor, pulling him into a tight hug. “But you love her more and I can’t fault you on that. I’ll see you around!” With that, he sauntered off the TARDIS.  
The Doctor wasted no time dematerializing. 

Rose knew that the Doctor was planning on running tests and asking more questions about her time with the Master. She hoped to provide a suitable distraction instead, “I don’t know about you, but tramping about the pyramids was dusty and dirty. I want a shower.” She wound her arms about his waist from behind.

“Why Rose Tyler, is that an invitation?”

“Why Doctor, do you need an invitation?” Questing hands slid downward.

“Your shower or mine?” He was proud of how his voice did not squeak.

“Yours; it’s bigger.”

“Yes. Yes it is.” They raced each other out of the room.


	12. Pillow Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hot steamy smut and a bit of plot.

Laughing, Rose burst into the Doctor’s room two strides ahead of him. Her laugh turned to a shriek as he tackled her to the floor. Rolling her onto her back, he pinned her and leaned down to kiss her thoroughly before growling in a mock sever tone. “What is the meaning of this: bringing your dusty dirty clothes into my private chambers?”

Rose tried to look repentant. “Oh forgive me, my Doctor. I should have left them in the corridor. Can you help me?”

The Doctor stood and pulled Rose to her feet before grabbing the hem of her shirt and pulling it over her head. “I shall. But you will have to be punished or you might forget and do it again sometime.”

“Yes, that wouldn’t do. Oh, and look you have dust on your clothing as well!”

“So I do! We must remedy this immediately.” 

A flurry of hands and quick caresses and the offending clothes were in a pile.

“You mentioned punishment, Doctor?” Rose quite liked the dark heat she could see in his eyes. They were so different from the calculating ice of... No! She was not going to think of him! Not now, and preferably not ever again.

“Yes. Yes I did, Rose Tyler,” he advanced on her slowly. “We shall have to scrub away every last speck of dust, where ever it might be found. I will not have a dirty urchin sharing my bed.” He was studying her body, searching for any marks or bruises. The Doctor was remembering the bio-signature trail he had removed from Rose so thoroughly, the remnant of her first brush with the Master. What would he find from her last encounter? There had been nothing on her lips or in her kiss, but he was eager to explore the rest of her body. He hoped to find nothing, but he relished the excuse to search.

“Like, in there?” she jerked a thumb over her shoulder and spun on her heel dashing into the ensuite with him right behind.

The Doctor grabbed a slim a tall thin bottle of dark blue liquid from the shelf. “Ah, just what the doctor ordered.”

“What is?” Rose questioned as the Doctor steered her by the shoulders into the shower chamber. 

“Essence of Eucalyptus,” he replied picking up the bottle. “Haven’t you used it before? Best thing for tired muscles as you clean up.”

Rose wrinkled her nose. “Never used it; smells like cough syrup.”

“Blech! What a terrible scent association. Hold still, you’re going to love this.” He poured a generous glob of gel onto his palm. “Lift your hair up,” he instructed and then proceeded to massage her neck and shoulders and down her back. His questing fingers searched for tender or stretched muscles but miraculously there were none.

Rose wasn’t sure if it was the therapeutic properties of the eucalyptus shower gel of the touch of the Doctor’s confident hands, but it wasn’t too long before her skin was tingling and heat was spreading. “Hmmmmm,” she hummed in appreciation.

The Doctor’s hands moved in a logical progression downward, lathering her bottom, thighs and calves with the same deliberate care. By the time he reached her ankles, heat was pooling in her womb and she was thinking that her punishment had less to do with scrubbing her clean and more to do with tantalizing her crazy. Two could play that game.

“Gimme some of that,” Rose demanded. The Doctor was going to inform her that thanks to his superior physiology he had no need for the healing properties of Essence of Eucalyptus, but the words caught in his throat as she turned around. Who could deny the goddess before him anything? He poured some gel into her outstretched hand and added more to his own. Silently they began to lather one another. Pheromones and musky sex coalesced with eucalyptus scent in the Doctor’s odor receptors blazing a trail across his brain and straight to his groin. He sincerely doubted he would ever be able to separate their associated scents again and part of his mind went down a rabbit trail to determine if there were any planets where such a sexually charged olfactory associative trigger could be problematic.

As she massaged his pectoral muscles, Rose had a sudden urge to play connect-the-dots with her tongue on the Doctor’s freckled skin. They made a tantalizingly random trail ever downward. She leaned in but stopped herself because she doubted the shower gel would taste very good and she definitely did not want to spoil the mood they were creating. With a lazy grin she tucked away that particular fantasy into her imagination for another time. 

The Doctor seemed to be having trouble lathering anything lower than her chest. Her nipples were tenderly taut under his repeated swirls and Rose had a disturbing memory flash of other hands. Anxious to remind him that there were other areas equally in need of his attention, Rose swiped the gel in her palm across the flat plain of his stomach and reached below.

“Argrrlhumph!” he gasped as her nimble fingers curled around his length and all of his mind’s attention snapped back to the shower cubical. He was already aching for her.

“Was that Gallifreyan?” she asked, tongue saucily poking out between her teeth.

“No,” he rasped, helplessly pushing into her hot little hand. “Not Gallefreyan, just lover.” Just soulmate longing to be bondmate...

Rose closed both hands over him and began to lightly stroke the velvet skin. “Speak lover to me,” she commanded, desire flaming in her tawny eyes. She was thrilled that he was already hardening and set about to make him more so.

In answer, he slid a hand between her parted thighs and began to match her movement stroke for stroke. His other hand slid around her waist and pulled her closer before sliding down and cupping one cheek. They stared intently into each other’s face, studying each flicker of emotion, measuring the flush that spread across heated cheeks and parted lips. It quickly became a contest to see who could hold out the longest in their bold foreplay. 

Rose’ knees were buckling as she tried to force his teasing fingers to rub her itch. The Doctor was struggling not to spill himself into her wicked hands. As if on cue, the TARDIS released a cascade of perfectly heated water. As the shower gel rinsed away, the Doctor crowded Rose up against a tiled wall. With no discernible effort, he then grabbed the backs of her thighs and slid her up the wall until they were eye to eye.

Rose automatically grabbed onto his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his slim waist. He was so strong.

“You win,” he said with a slow sexy grin, “But I get the prize.” Slowly he let her slide down his chest and used his hands to pull her thighs further apart. 

The tip of his manhood was pressed against her folds and Rose dug her nails lightly into his shoulders in anticipation. “Winner takes it all,” she groaned and he let her slip further down even as he pushed upward and in.

“Indeed,” he agreed and bending slightly kissed her roughly, bruising her lips and forcing her mouth open wide. He thrust with his tongue in time to the thrusts of his manhood, pinning her completely against the slippery shower wall in a most erotic fashion.

Rose was in a wonderland of sensations. Pressed tightly against the cool tiles by the Doctor’s cool firm body with the warm water pouring over them, she was riveted to the moment. The Doctor’s kiss was drawing out every pleasure center, every secret place. His lips were firm, his breath sweet and his tongue agile and clever. Down below, his shaft was thick and long, stretching then pulling back and then pushing in for the best kind of friction. His strong hands dug into her thigh and hamstring muscles demanding more.

Telltale tingles were shooting up from her curled toes as the blood rushed to her core. She flexed her knees and arched her back urging him on: deeper, harder, faster.

Confident that Rose could hold on without his holding her up, the Doctor pushed a hand in between them and unerringly found her swollen clit.

Rose’s scream was muffled by their deep kiss as the pain/pleasure of his touch on the hypersensitive nub sent her rocketing into a climax. The Doctor broke off the kiss and gritted his teeth to keep himself under control. He held himself ruthlessly rigid as wave after wave of contracting silken muscles tortured his shaft. He had other plans.

Eventually Rose became aware of his frozen posture. “What?” she mumbled, drugged on the after effects of desire. She was pretty confident that they were doing everything right; alien and human was proving to be very satisfactorily compatible. Why was the Doctor so still?

“Again,” the time lord commanded. Roses’ eyes snapped open. The power and authority in his voice left no room for negotiation. “Again,” he ground out through gritted teeth. “Come for me again.” His rigid control and physical strength held Rose at his mercy just as surely as her love enslaved her. A shiver raced down her spine. This could get addicting. Mutely she nodded.

The Doctor took his other hand out from under her bottom and leaned it against the wall near her head. He wanted to touch her temple, but he didn’t dare. His eyes bore into her hers. Fully dilated, they resembled twin black holes and Rose felt herself falling into their dark depths.

With deliberate slowness he began to rock again. Each long slow stoke was accompanied by an equally slow and deliberate rub against her clit. With only the wall and her own limbs for support, Rose found she had to work to stay upright. Each thrust would inch her up the wall but she slipped helplessly back down as he withdrew, only to rise again as he entered her anew. It was a ride like she had never had before. 

He was driving her mad with his deliberateness. In an attempt to exercise some control of her own, Rose dug her heels into his flexing buttocks and held the Doctor in a scissor like grip. In this way she could pull him in and perhaps increase the speed of his thrusts. Having just climaxed, she knew it would take more to reach it again, but she was eager to obey his command and chase after the release. Her splayed knees meant that each push opened her up wider and allowed deeper penetration. The Doctor grinned his approval at her gymnastic prowess and obligingly began to push harder and faster watching her wet breasts bounce.

Soft grunts were the cue for the water to change from cascade to a punishing pulse that beat at them in tempo with their lover’s dance.

One finger on her clit became two: rubbing, pinching and pulling. All the while he slid his shaft in and out, lifting and lowering her quivering body with each measured stroke. He was like a piston engine, pumping a relentless rhythm, taking them further and further away from reality.

Rose was unaware that she was sobbing as she once again felt herself rising on the tidal wave of sensual pleasure. She knew he was going to shatter her into a million pieces of immeasurable joy.  
The hand that had leaned on the wall, now curved around the back of her neck to keep her head from banging against the wall with the brute force of his pounding. The Doctor thrust harder still and with each push up, he was also pulling down on her head so that he was buried as deeply as possible into her sweet hot core. “Come. Come with me” he growled. “Now!”

He allowed a tiny trickle of his passion pass to her telepathically and come they did. Light exploded behind closed eyes as millions of synapses fired at once. They strained toward one another, desperate to be a close as to two people could physically be. The walls of Rose’s vagina clamped down hard, threatening to never let him go. As shockwaves of pleasure ripped through her, she milked his pulsing shaft. He ejaculated into her from a seemingly bottomless well, literally giving of himself in the second most intimate way he could.

When their pleasure had finally ebbed, the Doctor lifted Rose by her waist up and off of him. She staggered as her feet hit the floor and he pulled her in close. They kissed gently; their ferocious passion finally turned into loving tenderness. The shower was now a gentle rain which gradually cooled until they broke apart with knowing laughter.

Outside the shower, the TARDIS had supplied heated towels and robes for their comfort.

He looked again along the length of her body, thankful he could see no outward marks of her misadventure. When he had kissed her and tasted her and loved her there had been no residual bio-signature. It was nothing like before, but he knew the Master and could not imagine anything less that terror and abuse. The Doctor wanted to understand the change. “Tell me what he did to you, Rose.” 

She shook her head but softened her denial with a smile and change of subject. “What are bonds, Doctor? What’s a bondmate?”

The Doctor blinked. “Did he talk to you about that? Is that what he... did he try to..?”

“Doctor, tell me what it means. And before you have a fit, no he did not try, (things never got that far), but he mentioned it.”

The Doctor pulled Rose close and he spoke over her head. “Bonds are the most complete and...er...intimate joining between a Gallifrey couple. It is a linking of the two minds, a connection so deep and complete that you can communicate without speaking. With practice you can sense one another’s emotions without touch. Over time, some bond mates are said to be able to even communicate over significant distances. In my culture it was more intimate that physical sex.”

“I thought your species gave up physical sex.”

“Most did, yes. Many also gave up bonding for similar reasons.”

“Too intimate?”

“Too permanent.”

“Permanent?”

“One bonds for life. And once a bond is severed in death the surviving partner suffers acute loneliness and often dies shortly after.”

“From a broken heart?” 

“Hearts.”

“Whatever,” Rose thought this was extremely romantic.

“It’s very serious and sacred to my people. I’m disturbed that the Master would be talking to you about bonding.”

“Forget it,” Rose did not want to talk about the Master. The more she thought about it, she also didn’t like the idea that bond mates didn’t survive long without one another. The Doctor could certainly live much longer than she. She had what 60, 70 maybe 80 years and he had what thousands? She was going to get old and he wasn’t. How could they ever make that work? 

“If you recall, I mentioned bonds to you myself,” the Doctor didn’t want to drop the conversation. “He was tracing circular patterns on her shoulder.

“I remember. That’s why I asked about it now.”

“Ah, right.”

“Were you...are you... I mean, is that something you think about, Doctor?”

“Lately, yes...yes I have. A lot, actually.”

“With me?” Despite her misgivings, Rose loved him and wanted everything they could have together.

“Yes, Rose Tyler, with you. You don’t see anyone else here, do you?”

She giggled into his chest and then placed a gentle kiss over his left heart.

“Can we? I’m just a human.”

“You’re more than human to me. You’re Human Plus.”

“Oi! Are you talking about my size?”

“What?!? No! You’re perfect. All our running very nicely balances your love for chips – “the rest of his comments were cut off in a quick wrestling and tickling match that ended in more serious love making before coherent words became available once more.

“I think Bad Wolf has made it possible for us to bond, Rose. But as much as I want that, I want you to be fully aware of what it means first. This is perhaps the most serious thing we could ever do and there will be no way of turning back once it’s done.” The Doctor’s eyes were very dark and solemn. He brushed stray strands of hair off her damp face and let his touch emphasize his seriousness along with his love.

Rose nodded. “Explain it to me Doctor.”


	13. Pledges

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pure fluff, hearts and flowers. At last the bonding ceremony.

Rose and the Doctor stood facing one another in the TARDIS library. Over his shoulder Rose could see Jack standing proud and serious. He had dressed in his WWII uniform for the occasion. Behind her she knew stood Gwen Cooper, Torchwood operative and dopple ganger for Gwenyth who died saving them from the Gelth in Victorian England. Gwen had been a last minute draftee. Rose wished it could have been Kisha or Shareen or even Mickey doing the honor, but Gwen seemed pretty nice and her ability to adapt to strange situations made her the best alternative.

As she had told the Doctor as they stood in transference chamber at Canary Warf, she had made her choice long ago to never leave him. Nevertheless it was at such a moment as this that Rose missed her family and old friends. She really missed her mum. Although she knew all her fussing and moaning would have driven her spare, Rose dearly wished mum could see her marrying the love of her life. Despite all of the Doctor’s detailed explanation she couldn’t help but be nervous. Mum would have been a blessed distraction.

The Doctor looked paler than usual and his smile seemed strained. He was nervous too! Suddenly Rose was filled with compassion and forgetting her own fluttery stomach, grinned encouragingly up at him and nodded firmly.

This was it. This was what they wanted.

A large hand descended upon the Doctor’s shoulder, “This man comes here of his own volition to enter into union today,” Jack proclaimed.

A strong female hand gripped Rose’s shoulder, “This woman comes here of her own volition to enter into union today,” Gwen repeated.

“At this point there are traditionally some long winded and very dry speeches about the long history of time lords and the solemnity of this act,” the Doctor explained. “Since I am the last of the time lords and this duty would naturally fall to me, you will be relieved to learn that I have elected for forgo such speech making. Rose and I have already had long discussions about bonding and we understand what we now do.”

“Here, here!” muttered Jack. He winked at Rose over the Doctor’s shoulder.

From his suit pocket the Doctor produced a length of black satin ribbon. Embossed along its length in Gallifrey were the words “Two become one. One remains. Two die.” The Doctor had explained this as the description of the bond and how they would be inseparable. Rose silently thanked the TARDIS for providing the ribbon and translating it for her.

The Doctor handed her one end of the ribbon and clasped her left hand in his. As instructed, Rose pressed the end of the ribbon to her wrist as he began to wrap the ribbon around their clasped hands. With each loop he spoke first in Gallifreyan and then in English. Rose answered him in English. Some of the words she recognized from the first night they made love and Rose blushed deeply. Was it her imagination, or did the ribbon seem to heat up as it touched her skin?

Finally the ribbon was fully wound around their hands. The Doctor looked up and smiled tenderly at her. His eyes glistened with unshed tears. Rose bit her lip and tasted her own tears. When he nodded, with their free hands they reached for one another’s temples.

Gwen and Jack stepped back allowing them the illusion of privacy. They had both been warned to stand at the ready in case one of both of the celebrants should pass out. Such indignity was not uncommon in this part of the ceremony.

At first contact, Rose’s eyes slid shut but she stayed steady on her feet. The Doctor’s mental brush mimicked the light touch of his fingers to her head and she welcomed both eagerly. Following his lead, Rose also reached out and to their delighted surprise was able to graze the Doctor’s surface thoughts with little effort. The next few moments were an exchange of love and joy, and then the Doctor’s thoughts shifted with purpose to completing the bond. He shared his doubts about how deep they could get but swiftly followed that with acceptance and assurances that whatever they could forge would be brilliant. Rose accepted his assurances and shared her determination and complete commitment. The exquisite beauty of her trust in him tipped the balance and tears coursed down his face.

Jack was concerned that the Doctor was weeping, but Gwen placed a comforting hand on his arm. She didn’t know these two as well as he did, but she could recognize tears of joy when she saw them. Something magical was happening.

The Doctor led Rose deep into his psyche. He shielded her from his darkest memories, but somehow Rose recognized what they were and poured the healing oil of her love over them. The doctor became the patient and his gratitude was profound. Soon he mentally stood before her bare as the day he was loomed. _Only here can I be who I am. Here with you I share my true name and thus link myself to you forever. As long as a memory of me exists, it shall belong to you. Naming things gives you great power over that which is named. I yield that power only to you._

In her mind, Rose heard his name – alien and beautiful. Mentally she cradled it close to her heart, tucking it away where it would be forever safe and fiercely guarded. She was deeply humbled with the gift.

Eager to reciprocate, Rose led the Doctor as deep into her psyche as she could. She was somewhat confused and lost as to how this was done, but the Doctor was encouraging and offered her gentle guidance. She too wanted to shield the Doctor from her darkest (and more recent memories) so she imagined a door. He paused before the closed door and sensed that there was deep hurt beyond. The doctor nature for which he had been named longed to probe and heal. Before he could yield to that temptation, he felt the brush of fur. Bad Wolf was present.

The sensation did not disturb him for he knew Bad Wolf would defend and protect Rose from whatever danger this door represented. The presence seemed benign towards him and gave bolstered his hope that he and Rose could actually navigate a union together – human to time lord. His name would be safe; this bonding ceremony was not in vain.

_I do not have a secret name to share with you, my Doctor, to link myself to you forever. All I can offer is myself and trust that is enough._

_More than enough._

They all heard a wolf howl faintly. Jack nodded before smiling reassuringly to Gwen

_So, here I am – Rose Marion Tyler – daughter of Pete and Jackie Tyler, child of Earth. For as long as we have and for as long as a memory of me exists, I belong to you._

Mentally, he embraced her, cradling her to his hearts. Suddenly the writing on the hand-fasting ribbon seemed to flare with light and then sink into the surface of their skin.

Rose gasped and opened her eyes to stare at their hands. The writing was still on the ribbon and yet she also felt it under her skin, like an invisible tattoo.

 _Yes, a psychic tattoo: an excellent analogy, Rose._ The Doctor was unwinding the ribbon signalling the end of the ceremony.

A champagne cork popped. Rose whirled around. She was chagrined to realize she’d forgotten Jack and Gwen.

“A toast to the bride and groom!” Jack was handing out champagne flutes.

“Wait a minute,” Gwen complained, “don’t they have to seal it a kiss?”

“Excellent suggestion,” the Doctor replied swinging Rose into his arms. “This might feel a bit strange,” he murmured before gently pressing his lips to hers.

Rose nearly swooned with the instensity of kissing her bondmate. Not only could she feel his lips on hers, but she could feel how her lips felt to him. It’s okay, my love. We will work on this later. You can learn to shield and filter out a lot of this.

 _Not on your life!_ Rose wrapped her arms about his neck and deepened their kiss.

The Doctor chuckled deep in his chest.

“Okay, love birds. The drinks are going flat.”

Reluctantly they parted and accepted their glasses.

Jack held his drink aloft. “To the bride and groom – may your days together be long and your nights even longer!”

“Jack!” Rose pretended to be embarrassed, but the Doctor’s enthusiastic “Here! Here!” had them all laughing.

Gwen raised her glass. “Thank you for inviting me. I don’t know your story and I’ve never seen a hand-fasting wedding before, but I know love when I see it: to the Doctor and Rose.”

After the clinking of glasses and obligatory sips, the Doctor turned to Rose, “To my bride, my wife and my bondmate. I never dared believe this day could come but now I am so very happy to say that you are my sun. I shall happily remain in your orbit and reflect your goodness until the stars die out and we are nothing but dust.”

Rose blinked back tears. Never had she seen such genuine joy glowing on the Doctor’s face. She hastily cleared her throat and raised her glass towards him. “To my husband and bondmate, all my life I wanted something more than I could see and then you came along and showed it to me. You have opened my eyes in ways I never dared to dream about. You are my Doctor. I will love you forever and even after that.”

Surreptitiously Jack wiped away a tear of his own. “Congratulations, my friends. No one, nowhere or no-when deserves this happiness more.”


	14. Perfect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor has a surprise for Rose. More fluff and sentiment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! It took me over a year to finally write this sequel, but now I am glad I overcame my reluctance. I really did want to get these two bonded and Master Plan left that undone. I hope you don't find the chapter title presumptuous...

After Jack and Gwen returned to Torchwood, Rose caught herself absently tracing the psychic tattoo on the back of her left hand. “Two become one. One remains. Two die.” The symbols gently tingled as she stroked them. The old earth wedding vow, “till death do us part”, took on a much larger meaning now. Thanks to the bonding a bit of him resided in her mind and a bit of her resided in his. They were united in a way Rose had never dreamed of achieving. He wasn’t just “the Doctor” anymore. She knew his real name and it was perfect.

She was keenly aware of the Doctor’s happiness and buzz of anticipation. She mirrored the sensations across their fledgling bond. She thought he meant the bedroom which, given the post-bonding kiss, would be nothing short of mind-blowing fantastic. But he had one more surprise to give her first.

He smiled in understanding as he watched her. He too had an urge to trace the invisible marking which declared them one, but instead he thrust his hands into his pockets and fingered his latest gift for Rose.

“There is an Earth tradition which I want to honour, Rose.” He took her left hand in his and slid a ring on her third finger. It was a perfect fit. “I think the saying is, With this ring I thee wed.”

Rose gasped in surprise. When had he had time to get a ring? “You didn’t have to do that, Doctor, but I love it!” She held up her hand to examine her wedding band. Smooth metal with two tumbled stones: one slightly red and one slightly blue, so deeply inset as to be completely flush. Experimentally she ran a finger over the surface. It was cool to touch.

The Doctor bent over her hand to point to the stones. “This one is a fragment of Earth, circa five billion.”

“From our first date!” she exclaimed, wondering when he had thought to collect the precious blue souvenir.

He grinned at her, answering her question aloud, “Time machine, remember? And you humans spend a lot of time sleeping.” She playfully cuffed his shoulder.

“Okay, so what’s the red stone then?”

His smiled softened, “That a fragment of my old planet, Gallifrey.”

“Really? Oh, Doctor that’s perfect,” Rose was deeply touched that he’d gone to all that trouble to have something so sentimental made for her. “It’s like our two worlds united.”

“Well, they have in a sense: you and me.”

“And what kind of metal is this? It’s cool to touch and first it looks silver, but then when I turn my hand it’s gold...?”

“It’s not actually metal. Well, it has all the molecular qualities of metal so I suppose.... You know how the TARDIS is all of this, right?” His free hand swept wide. “Not just the coral struts, but the console and the grating?” He raised a questioning brow.

“What? No way! You mean she gave me a bit of herself to wear always?”

“Well, where did you think your TARDIS key came from? Same science.”

“But this...” Rose blinked back tears. A wave of love washed over her from the sentient ship. “Thank you. Oh thank you so much,” she whispered both to her lover and to the beloved ship.

“You like it?” he rubbed the back of his neck in characteristic uncertainty. “It’s not very flashy. Hardly Jackie-approved...”

“No, no I adore it! It’s absolutely perfect!”

“That’s good because I have one for me too.” He pulled a second ring from his pocket. Rose took it from him and slid it on to his ring finger. She was too overcome to speak, so instead kissed the ring before cradling his hand against her cheek. The newest of wearing rings felt strange but in an exciting way.

“A lot of cultures don’t recognize rings like these to have any meaning. And in some cultures rings are very offensive and we won’t be able to wear them,” he cautioned. Both disliked the idea of having to remove something so precious. The Doctor made a mental note to avoid all such primitive planets were ring wearing was forbidden. The TARDIS silently agreed – at least until after a long, long honeymoon.

“I don’t care,” Rose murmured studying them again. “I just never expected... well, I really didn’t know what to expect at all! What a day!”

“Agreed. And now,” the Doctor bowed low and then offered her his arm. “I’ve been waiting a long time to be able to say this: **dearest wife,** shall we retire to our chambers?” _We have some serious celebrating to do._

“I thought you’d never ask my **darling husband**.” _And don’t for a second think about doing any of that filtering stuff you mentioned! I signed on for the full-monty._ Rose slipped her arm through his and laughing together they ran into their future.

It was ever so brilliant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of Master Promise. I got the idea of the title from the 12th Doctor when he said, "Love is a promise". And I promise you they are still together, roaming this AU universe, righting wrongs and risking everything except their love. The stuff of legend lives on!


End file.
